


I'll Fight For You

by ButWhatIfThereWasChiley



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied Telby, M/M, if you really read the subtext, that's not a focus point of the story though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-06-24 13:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15631908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButWhatIfThereWasChiley/pseuds/ButWhatIfThereWasChiley
Summary: Riley is sick of spending all his free time on the family ranch - so when the opportunity presents itself to travel to Amber Beach Dinosaur Museum for the summer, he takes it. He's hoping to get some new life experiences and make some new friends. But he gets a bit more than he bargained for.





	1. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was watching Dino Charge and thinking about the ways in which I might have written it differently, and eventually this happened. I don't know yet how many chapters there will be, but this first instalment is basically setting up Riley's character before he gets to know the others. Enjoy!

Riley sits down at the dinner table – after a long, boring day of feeding the pigs and milking the cows and mucking out the stables – and braces himself. He knows what’s coming before his mother brings it up: it’s the same conversation he and his family have been having on repeat, since he graduated high school two weeks ago.

“Your brother tells me you were messing around in the stables again,” she says carefully. She doesn’t sound angry; merely disappointed and a little confused.

“I wasn’t messing around,” Riley replies on instinct, even though he knows Matt would disagree. Practising and improving the fencing skills he learnt at school is important to Riley, but despite it being something he’s interested in his family fails to see the relevance of it. They just see it as  _playing musketeer again._

“You need to start taking things more seriously,” his mother tells him. “This is your life now. You should treat the ranch with respect.”

Riley nods, already feeling a bit guilty. He knows that he should be more interested in his family’s livelihood – and the worst thing is that no matter how much he guilt trips himself for it, he still can’t make himself care. This isn’t what he’s interested in; it isn’t what he wants. But he’s given up trying to explain that to his mother.

It doesn’t help that his brother is practically the perfect son; taking on his duties at the ranch with nothing but enthusiasm ever since he finished school a couple of years back.  _Matt reminds me so much of your father_ , his mother would tell Riley whenever she got the chance.  _Someday you’ll be like him too._

Riley wonders if it’s a bad thing that he doesn’t want to be like his father.

“You know that your family comes first, Riley,” his mother sighs, seemingly able to read his mind.

Riley nods. “I know,” he mumbles, feeling even worse for wishing that it didn’t have to. He wants to be able to put himself first sometimes.

His mother smiles comfortingly, seeming to take pity on him. “Did you decide on your congratulations gift yet?”

Riley shakes his head. It’s something his mother is insisting on; that she treats him to say well done for passing his exams with flying colours. But Riley can’t think of anything that he wants. The only thing he really wants right now is for his family to understand that he doesn’t want the same things as they do. But it’s only for a year, he reminds himself. One year out of education, where he can help out on the family ranch, and after that he can pursue his own life.

As Matt starts talking to their mother about the animals on the ranch and the duties they’ll have to go about tomorrow, Riley tunes out the sound of their voices. This may be his life now, but only for a year. Once he’s figured out what exactly he wants to do with his life, he can apply to college and never look back.

 

<<->>

 

Riley doesn’t like things that don’t make sense. So when Matt interrupts his fencing practice to tell him that he should be feeding the pigs, and Riley turns around to complain about his brother to his dog, he’s confused to find that Rubik is no longer there. There shouldn’t be any reason to be worried… except for the fact that Rubik tends to follow Riley around all day, sitting in the corner of the room when Riley is busy and begging for attention whenever his concentration wavers. So this is unusual.

Riley makes an executive decision to feed the pigs later (which has everything to do with the safety of his dog and nothing to do with his reluctance to feed the pigs), following the sound of his dog’s barking to a large rock just off their land. “Rubik, what are you doing?” he says exasperatedly, feeling his heartbeat slow down to its steady pace in relief, but then his eyes widen as a cloaked figure appears and brandishes some sort of weapon towards Rubik.

In a sudden burst of bravery, Riley rushes forward in front of Rubik, trying to protect him.  _No one_ touches the animals. Especially not his dog.

However, what Riley doesn’t anticipate is that he’s putting himself directly in the face of danger, with nothing to protect himself, in front of a very angry… tiger? What is that thing? Its face is red and looks more like machinery than a real face. Riley spends most of his time with animals, but he has no idea how to categorise this one.

Riley notices the monster – because surely that’s the only way he can describe it – preparing itself to attack, so he quickly grabs a metal rod from nearby and holds it out to protect himself. (It’s the best he can do at short notice. If he’d  _known,_ he would have brought his jousting stick.)

He manages to deflect the first few beams of light that are directed at him, but soon enough he can’t keep up anymore and he gets struck, his only weapon flying out of his hands and wedging itself into the large rock a few metres away. However, the monster is no longer interested in him, stalking over to the rock with a wide grin as if he’s just found what he’s been looking for. “Ah, there it is…” he murmurs, and it’s at that moment that Riley notices a faint green light emanating from the rock. That wasn’t there before, right?

Riley pushes himself up, rushing over to the rock. He may have no clue what’s going on, but he has a feeling that the monster finding what he’s looking for would _not_  end well for him. He stands at the rock, trying desperately to pull out the metal rod before the monster gets close enough to attack him again, when suddenly he feels a rush of power. What the…

Riley watches in bewilderment as the metal rod is covered in green light, the light disappearing to reveal a sword. And then there’s a green dinosaur in front of his eyes, roaring at him as if it’s trying to tell him something, and –  _Don’t question it, Riley_ , he urges himself.  _You can ask questions later._ And Riley may not like things that don’t make sense, but at least this time it appears to be working in his favour – because with the powerful sword on his side, he manages to overpower the monster. He quickly looks back at the rock – at the glowing green gem that must have helped power his sword in some way – and he quickly grabs the gem before making a run for it.

 

<<->>

 

Riley spends the next few days using all of his free time to research what on earth this mysterious gem could be. He’s found all sorts of things on the internet about folklore and magic, but he can’t quite bring himself to believe in any of it. He’s always been one to stay rooted in reality; things that are tangible and provable. But even he has to admit that a metal rod turning itself into a sword, just from the effects of a glowing green jewel, doesn’t seem like it could have a particularly scientific explanation.

He’s out of his depth.

Somewhere in his searching, he sees something about there being multicoloured gems which are linked to the personalities of dinosaurs, and he latches onto it like a lifeline. He remembers seeing a dinosaur appear in front of him when he reached for the sword, so something about it feels more legitimate than the other theories he’s found. Besides, even if the basis of the idea is still rather fantastical, at least this website cites a specific museum he could go to for some more answers.

As he’s looking at the museum’s website, he sees a picture of something called a velociraptor, which looks exactly like the dinosaur he saw in his head during the fight. And in at that moment, Riley knows what he wants to do.

So, when his mother asks him again that evening, “Have you thought of a congratulations gift yet, Riley?” for once Riley is able to give her an answer.

“I’d like to go to the Amber Beach Dinosaur Museum.”

 

<<->>

 

Riley’s doing just  _fine_ , thank you very much. His scooter may have broken down, and he may now be stranded in the middle of nowhere at the side of a practically deserted road, but he’s fine. He’s looking through the manual, and once he finds the problem the manual will tell him exactly how to fix it. He’s  _got_ this.

After a few minutes, a truck stops by the side of the road, and Riley looks up in surprise to see two people around his age, sat there looking at him. “Do you need any help?” the guy asks with a friendly smile.

Riley smiles slightly in response, trying to look grateful even if he’s a bit annoyed that he thinks he  _needs_  their help. “No, that’s okay. I’ve got the trusty manual here.” He’s  _got_ this. “All I need to do is –”

Riley cuts himself off in surprise as a van drives past, the gust of wind breaking off multiple pages in his manual, which scatter about the vicinity.

So as it happens, perhaps Riley isn’t  _completely_ fine.

Because now he’s found himself sitting in the backseat of a truck with two strangers – who, as it turns out, also only met each other today. Which means there’s a possibility – a minimal possibility, but a possibility nonetheless – of one of them being a serial killer; and now Matt’s protests of “I can’t believe you’re letting him go, all on his own” make a lot more sense.

Having said that, the guy driving the truck was nice enough to offer him a lift into Amber Beach, and Riley should probably feel more grateful and less cynical about the whole thing. His name is Tyler, Riley learns, and he’s on a road trip to search for father, who went missing a decade ago.

Riley almost brings up his own father, but then decides against it. It’s one thing having a father who died before his time; it’s another having a father who probably also died before his time, but disappeared without a trace so that nobody could know for sure. At least Riley has some sort of closure.

The girl is called Shelby, and she seems nice enough, although Riley can’t understand how she already feels so comfortable in Tyler’s presence. But perhaps she’s just better at making friends than Riley. It isn’t something he’s had all too much experience of – all his energy has been focused either on school work or helping his family at the ranch. There were people he spoke to at school, of course, but no friends close enough that he’d want to stay in contact with them.

He quickly learns that Tyler likes to help people in need because his dad taught him it was always the right thing to do, so it really shouldn’t surprise him when Tyler stops at the side of the road again to help out some people in an overturned car. Riley can’t help but wonder what on earth happened for there to be such a bad crash – but all Shelby and Tyler seem concerned with is trying to lift up the car to allow the man underneath to escape, so he takes a deep breath and tries to help them.

The trapped man’s wife stands at the side, urging them on, and part of Riley wonders why she isn’t helping them. But then something catches his attention – he leans down and dips his fingers in the liquid coming out of the car, sniffing it. “It’s leaking gas,” he tells the others worriedly. Their eyes widen and they try with new determination to push the car off the man before the car explodes and they  _all_ meet an untimely death.

It’s too difficult, at first, but they persevere and soon enough Riley feels the green gem in his back pocket heating up. It’s a ridiculous thought, he’s aware, but it feels like the gem is  _helping_ him. And soon enough, the overturned car is flying high into the air, above Riley and his two new friends, before exploding into flames. They all stare at it in shock.

He takes the glowing gem out of his pocket, staring at it in a mix of wonder and fear, because what the hell  _is_ this thing? He then looks at Tyler and Shelby, belatedly thinking that maybe he shouldn’t have revealed the item that appears to have given him superhuman strength – but they’re holding identical gems in their hands.

“Let me guess,” Tyler says as he looks at Riley’s gem, then back to Riley with a hesitant smile. “You’re going to the Dino Museum, right?”

 

<<->>

 

Riley is grateful that the rescued man and his wife aren’t also headed to the Dino Museum, because he has a feeling that Tyler would have offered them a lift too. It really would have been a bit too cramped in the back of the truck for Riley had that been the case.

He supposes it’s just as well they don’t have any more passengers, because they spend their journey to the museum discussing how they each got their sparkling power gems. Riley tells the story of jumping in to save his dog, thinking it might make him sound a little silly, but he feels less stupid for it when Shelby explains that she jumped in front of the monster to save a  _box_ , when she didn’t know what was inside. And then Tyler jumped into the fight to save her – which again shouldn’t surprise Riley, because Tyler really does seem like the type of person to help out strangers at every given opportunity. It’s an admirable quality, that’s for sure, but Riley feels like he has a bit too much self-preservation to trust others so willingly.

Not that he had much of a choice in this case.

Luckily Shelby has worked at the museum for a year already and so she’s fine to give Tyler instructions on where to go. Riley breathes an imperceptible sigh of relief when he sees the sign for Amber Beach Dinosaur Museum come into sight, as Tyler drives round to the loading dock. They’re here, and he can be on his way. He may as well spend some time exploring the museum before heading to the hotel he’s booked for his one-week stay –

“Koda! Chase!” Shelby shouts, interrupting Riley’s train of thought. He looks to his left to see two people in uniform walking away, but then they disappear, and Riley is extremely confused. He quickly gets out of the truck, trying to figure out where they could have gone, because he really doesn’t like things that don’t make sense, and there seem to be a lot of things not making sense lately.

Tyler, on the other hand, is apparently unbothered by Shelby’s co-workers’ disappearance, and he casually hops up onto a dinosaur statue outside and asks Shelby to take a picture of him. Riley wants to tell Tyler to focus, but he simply stands there in bewildered silence as Shelby rolls her eyes but agrees. Not for the first time that day, Riley is surprised they’ve only just met each other. The way they talk to each other makes it seem like they’ve been friends for a while.

But he supposes _that_  at least makes sense, because when you go through a few near-death experiences in one day and miraculously come out of them unscathed, it’s only natural that you’d feel a connection to the other people involved.

The dinosaur statue is impressive, and Tyler grins excitedly as Shelby takes the picture, but then the back of the dinosaur’s mouth opens up and Tyler falls inside.

Riley climbs up after him to try and figure out what just happened, eyes wide and completely ignoring Shelby as she squeaks “It swallowed him!”

“It’s a secret passage…” he says to himself in wonder, following Tyler down what appears to be a slide. What can he say, he’s curious.

Shelby comes down a few seconds after him, but Riley isn’t focused on his new friends anymore. He’s too busy looking at his surroundings, because they appear to be in some sort of old-fashioned  _lair_ and this is ridiculously strange but rather exciting. Something about its appearance reminds him of a laboratory: state of the art technology contrasting with the ancient appearance of the cave it’s based in.

He hoped getting away from his family for a week would give him some new life experiences, but this is a little more than he bargained for.

He follows Shelby and Tyler over to a section of the cave where there appears to be a black gem and a blue gem floating in the wall, hovering in the space in between two large crystals. He gets out the green gem from his pocket, to compare his own possession with the two already in the wall, noticing Shelby doing the same. But then Shelby’s gem flies into an empty gap in the wall and they both stare in shock – Riley’s and Tyler’s gems following soon after, into the two remaining gaps.

“It looks like these are some sort of power source,” Riley observes as he hears the faint buzzing coming from the wall; the way the gems are floating in space but still seem to be charged with electricity.

“They’re Dino Chargers,” a voice interrupts from behind him, and Riley turns around in shock. There’s some strange being stood behind them –  _another monster?_  his brain helpfully supplies, but Riley quickly dismisses that thought. Whatever it is, this thing doesn’t seem nearly as intimidating as the monster he met before.

“Who are you?” Shelby asks. It sounds like an accusation, but Riley has a feeling that she’s just scared.

“My name is Keeper,” the being replies. “It appears you have found the Energems I entrusted to the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.”

Riley stares at Keeper. “What did you just say?”

“Wow. You’re  _really_ old,” Shelby comments.

Keeper ignores her, instead choosing to explain the history of the glowing jewels that are apparently called Energems. It turns out that each Energem is bonded to a different type of dinosaur – which would explain why Riley saw a velociraptor when he bonded to the Green Energem.

Still, Riley finds himself frozen in shock as it’s all explained to him. Yes, he came to Amber Beach in search of answers and maybe a bit of adventure. But this situation seems pretty extreme. What exactly has he got himself in for?

Before he has a chance to voice his question, two new people appear in the cave. “Koda? Chase?” he hears Shelby say, and all Riley can think as these two guys appear in front of him is  _why is everyone in Amber Beach stupidly good-looking?_ The one on the left is looking at them excitedly, arms crossed across his blue t-shirt, whereas the other one is smiling at them proudly. Like he knows something that Riley doesn’t and he’s ready to flaunt it.

Then a woman walks out, ignoring Shelby’s “Miss Morgan?!” to walk closer to Tyler. She tells him that his bravery and insistence on helping other people was why the Red Energem chose him – and Riley can’t help the rush of pride that runs through them when Miss Morgan explains that the Green Energem chose him due to his intelligence, wit and logical thinking.  _Finally, someone who appreciates me working hard and being smart_ , Riley thinks to himself, slightly bitter even though he probably shouldn’t be. His family want the best for him, of course, but they don’t seem to understand that their perception of what’s best for him doesn’t necessarily match up to his own.

Riley tunes back into the conversation just in time to catch Miss Morgan saying “Why the Pink Energem chose you, Shelby, is… anyone’s guess.”

Riley looks at her in surprise, thinking the comment is a bit harsh, but he can’t help but notice one of the guys – Chase, he thinks his name is – smirking. It seems like a strange response, but Riley decides he isn’t in a place to judge considering he’s probably known Shelby since she started working here a year ago, compared to Riley who only just met her today. He must have his reasons.

He quickly turns away before Chase notices him staring.

Before anyone can say anything else about their new responsibilities with the power of the Energems in their grasp, an alarm blares inside the cave.

Tyler all but freaks out. “What’s going on?! We need to get out of here, now!” he shouts over the din.

Meanwhile, Miss Morgan, Chase and Koda walk over to a large monitor screen in the centre of the cave. Riley looks over to them in curiosity to see a video of a volcano displayed across it. “I’m picking up some seismic activity,” Miss Morgan says.  _There’s a shocker,_ Riley thinks to himself sarcastically. The volcano looks like it’s about to blow over.

“We should go check it out,” Chase says and Riley looks at him in surprise, taken off guard by his accent. He must not be from around here.

“We – go,” Koda says, not seeming to have much grasp of the English language, and Riley does a double take. He’s probably only moved to America recently, considering his lack of vocabulary, but still, Riley is curious. Where did Miss Morgan find these people?

“Not so fast, Koda,” Miss Morgan says. “We need to make sure the new Rangers understand what they’re getting themselves in for.”

Tyler nods. “What do we have to do?”

Miss Morgan sighs. “This is a dangerous mission, Tyler. It won’t be a walk in the park.” She directs a stern look at the three new members of their team. “We’re dealing with extremely powerful intergalactic monsters,” she explains. “Your Dino Chargers will allow you to morph into your Ranger suits, which will harness your powers and give you a boost of strength, but that doesn’t mean that this will be easy. These monsters will kill anything in their paths to get to those Energems… including you.”

“I’m up for it,” Tyler says with no hesitation. Shelby seems to have the complete opposite reaction; slouching into herself like she’s trying to hide away from the responsibility. That’s a reaction that Riley can understand. He’s all one for adventure, but signing his life away to the cause seems more reckless than adventurous.

Still, having the Energems fall into the wrong hands would put the entire world at risk. At least this way, Riley can be in control of helping to stop evil before it takes everyone over.

For the first real time in his life, Riley can be in charge of his own fate.

“I’m in,” he states confidently.

It seems he might be staying here for longer than a week, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that a lot of this was similar to how it played out in the show, but hopefully you still found it interesting! The story starts off being quite similar to canon but it will diverge later, so stay tuned :) Thanks for reading!


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley learns more about his teammates

 

Riley stands in the cave, on guard, hitting tennis balls at the wall with his sword as they fly out of the machine and trying to work out how his life has changed so quickly. It was only a couple of days ago that they won their fight against Iceage – but the fight was a lot more intense than he would have imagined. Having won the fight against the tiger whose name he learnt was Fury, he thought he was well equipped to being a Ranger, but he hadn’t considered that Fury’s goal was to steal the Green Energem and not to attack Riley himself. Being under direct fire from a monster was harder than he anticipated.

Fortunately, he had the other members of their team to help him, as well as Tyler’s Zord which appeared at just the right moment. Still, Riley doesn’t want to feel so unprepared next time. Miss Morgan is in the process of developing their current technology as well as some new equipment, but Riley knows that without training hard he could still be at a disadvantage next time they fight. Defending himself is one thing, but defending the entire city is another matter entirely.

It’s a lot of pressure to put on a 17-year-old boy, Riley thinks, but at the same time he can’t help but feel a little smug at the thought of it. He wonders what his brother would think if he knew this was the reason why Riley decided to extend his summer vacation at the museum. _How’s this for ‘playing musketeer again’?_ he thinks to himself, somewhat bitterly. _This is the real deal now._

“Good morning,” Miss Morgan says to the Rangers as she walks into the cave, a pile of paper in her hands. Koda and Tyler look over and smile from where they’re training together, but Chase doesn’t appear to have heard her. It’s probably something to do with the headphones he has on. But Riley pushes that thought aside as Miss Morgan looks at him approvingly, saying, “Training hard, I see.”

Riley smiles proudly. “If we want to win, we have to work for it.”

Miss Morgan’s gaze shifts over to Chase, where he’s sitting at her desk, skateboard sat on top of some important-looking files as he listens to his music, blissfully unaware of Miss Morgan’s presence. “If only the others shared your mentality,” she mutters under her breath.

Riley also looks over at Chase, wondering why he isn’t paying attention to anyone else in the room. He only looks away when he gets hit in the face with a tennis ball.

“You might want to turn that thing off,” Tyler says helpfully from across the room.

Riley almost rolls his eyes at the unneeded advice but still he turns off the machine with his remote, before turning back to Miss Morgan. “Haven’t he and Koda been training for a year already? I figured they knew what they were doing by now.”

“That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t take training seriously,” Miss Morgan says pointedly. She gestures to Koda, where he’s teaching Tyler how to do a backwards high kick without losing his balance. “Koda knows what he’s doing, and he’s passing that knowledge along to Tyler. Chase, on the other hand…”

“Guys, check this out!” Tyler calls from the other side of the cave, interrupting her train of thought. Miss Morgan and Riley look in his direction just in time to see him perfectly perform a few kicks in various directions, not losing his balance even once.

Tyler became a Ranger around the same time as Riley, but he’s already improved so much more. Riley suddenly has a strong compulsion to turn on the tennis ball machine again and keep practising.

“Whatever, _I_ could do that,” a female voice scoffs from the entrance of the cave, and Riley looks over to see that Shelby has arrived.

Tyler smiles at her encouragingly. “Go for it! We can even stand side by side and do this move together, if we can coordinate.”

Shelby nods, pleased by the prospect, and she immediately launches into a couple of kicks off to the side before stumbling and tripping over her own feet.

Riley winces while Koda stifles a laugh.

“Maybe you just need more practice…” Tyler says hesitantly, his smile dimming.

“I… show you. How – fight,” Koda agrees and Riley smiles slightly at his enthusiasm. It’s good of Koda to help out the other Rangers so selflessly even when he isn’t very good at communicating his thoughts in English. He can see why the Blue Energem chose him.

Others, he’s having a little more trouble understanding.

“I don’t need your help,” Shelby says snidely. “I can figure it out on my own –”

“Why are you wearing those clothes, Shelby?” Miss Morgan asks, cutting her off before she can say anything more.

Shelby smiles, her demeanour immediately brightening. “Isn’t it great? I can finally go to the museum without having to wear my waitress uniform.” She gestures to her jeans and pink hoodie happily.

“Incorrect,” Miss Morgan says. She holds out a piece of paper towards Shelby. “You still have work as usual. Here are your shift times.”

Shelby looks at her indignantly. “But – we’re Rangers now. We save the world!”

“On some days you save the world and on some days you serve burgers,” Miss Morgan corrects her. She waves the piece of paper around Shelby’s face until she reluctantly takes it, then she hands Koda, Tyler and Riley their schedules.

Miss Morgan then walks over to her desk, putting Chase’s schedule in front of him, who gives her a thumbs up in response without even looking in her direction. For some reason, Miss Morgan doesn’t seem to mind, but Riley supposes that she must have got used to his attitude by now.

He quickly turns away from Chase before he can notice Riley looking, choosing instead to go over his schedule. He notes with interest when his shift times are and what he’s been tasked with doing – he expected to be working in the café serving burgers with Shelby; something simple and straight-forward that didn’t require too much training beforehand. After all, it was good of Miss Morgan to agree to employ Riley and Tyler while they were living in the area and fulfilling their Ranger duties, but she never promised they would have interesting tasks to do at work.

However, Riley is surprised to notice that not only is he serving burgers and sweeping the floors; he’s also helping put together an exhibition on the first floor, on only his third day of work. It might not seem like a lot, but it makes Riley feel important and valued.

But he still feels a little bad for Shelby when he hears her complaining, “I’m waitressing all week? I thought I might finally be given something interesting to do for once.” She then takes another look at her schedule and positively glares at it. “Why am I working this afternoon?! I usually have today off.”

“Because you didn’t show up for your shifts yesterday or the day before,” Miss Morgan explains. “I’m being lenient with you, Shelby. Anyone else would have fired you by now,” she finishes and Shelby blanches.

“What times are you working in the DinoBite Café?” Tyler asks Shelby, apparently unbothered by her foul mood. He checks over her schedule once she hands him the paper and then he’s grinning. “I have two of my shifts with you! It would be good for someone experienced like you to show me the ropes.”

“Don’t worry, Tyler, we’ll make sure to give you some training –”

“I’d be happy to help,” Shelby tells Tyler with a tight smile, cutting off Miss Morgan before she can finish her sentence.

Riley watches the exchange in confusion but his attention is quickly diverted when Miss Morgan hands him an envelope “Here’s your advance pay check, as requested,” she says, and Riley smiles in appreciation. She then hands an identical-looking envelope to Tyler.

“What’s that for?” Shelby frowns. “I’ve been working here for a year and you haven’t _once_ let me have my salary early.”

“You don’t need the money like Tyler and Riley do,” Miss Morgan replies unapologetically. “You still live with your parents.”

Shelby looks at Riley uncertainly. “I thought you had a hotel booked.”

“I do, but only for this week,” Riley says. When he explained to his mother than he would be staying a little longer in Amber Beach – he fobbed her off with some excuse about discovering a newfound passion for dinosaurs and needing to explore it further so he can incorporate it into his college application – she offered to give him some more money for his stay, but that didn’t sit right with Riley. Especially not when he had a feeling he wouldn’t be coming back to the ranch for a long time. It felt unfair to accept her help and then go back on his word about helping out at home during his year off.

“I’ve been searching and I’ve found two apartments that I think are suitable for what you need,” Miss Morgan tells him and Tyler, seeming proud of herself, “but I’d personally recommend the first one. The woman who owns the apartment block isn’t asking for much in rent and she’s also happy for you to move in immediately.”

Tyler grins appreciatively. “That sounds great! Thanks, Miss Morgan.”

Miss Morgan smiles at him in response – after all, even Riley can admit that his happiness is infectious. “Your work schedule doesn’t start until tomorrow, so you have some time to look around the two apartments today if you’d like. I wish I could come with you myself, but I have so much work to get done here,” she says regretfully.

Shelby turns to Tyler, a hopeful expression on her face. “I know the area, I can do it.”

Miss Morgan raises an eyebrow. “Given your somewhat underwhelming display of combat a few minutes ago, I think it would be best for you to stay here with Koda and learn how to perform a proper kick.”

Shelby chews the side of her cheek, something Riley is starting to notice she does when she’s annoyed, but apparently she thinks better of talking back to her boss because then she turns to Riley and says, “Have fun finding apartment hunting on your own, then. I hope you don’t get lost.”

Riley smiles awkwardly in response, feeling like she’s being sarcastic even though he’s pretty sure Shelby _wouldn’t_ want them to get lost.

“Chase, why don’t you show them around?” Miss Morgan suggests instead, repeating “Chase!” louder when he doesn’t respond.

Chase takes off his headphones and looks at her questioningly.

“Can you show Riley and Tyler around Amber Beach?” Miss Morgan repeats. “They have a couple of apartments to look at, so that they’ll be able to stay in the area with us.”

Riley almost expects Chase to say no, since he hasn’t seemed at all interested in the new members of their team ever since they defeated Iceage a couple of days ago. But to Riley’s surprise, he says “Sure.” Chase picks up his skateboard, heading towards the exit, and then looks at them expectantly. “Are you coming, or am I going on my own? I have my own apartment, you know; I don’t really need another one.”

Riley almost rolls his eyes at his impatience. “Alright, let’s go.”

 

<<->>

 

Riley, Tyler and Chase are greeted at the door by a kind-looking elderly woman who asks if they’re here to view the apartment. “Kendall told me you were on your way,” she explains.

“Kendall?” Riley asks obliviously.

“You know her as Miss Morgan,” Chase tells him quietly.

“Right,” Riley acknowledges awkwardly, feeling a little embarrassed about not knowing her full name even though there’s no need to. Part of him wonders how Chase is on first name terms with their boss, but then he reminds himself that Chase has been a Ranger for over a year by now, and Riley should probably stop being surprised by how comfortable Chase is with the whole ‘saving the world’ situation. For him, at least, it’s taking a lot of getting used to.

“It’s good to meet you all. Let’s start with the introductions, shall we? My name is Betty, and if you choose to rent out this apartment then I will be your landlord,” she tells them as she invites them inside, walking them up a flight of stairs before they reach apartment 21. “Are the three of you planning on living together?” she continues anxiously. “We only have two bedrooms… unless, pardon me, are two of you together?”

Riley frowns at her in confusion as Chase laughs awkwardly. “No, I’m only here to help Riley and Tyler find their way around; they’re new here. I already have my own place.”

Betty nods. “Not a problem. Would you like me to give you a tour, or would you prefer to look around on your own?”

“We’re happy to look around by ourselves,” Tyler says cheerfully, which Riley is grateful for because he doesn’t really want the owner of the apartment block swaying their opinion. He knows what estate agents can be like, and even if Betty is only a landlord, that doesn’t mean that Riley trusts her to give an unbiased description of the apartment she’s trying to rent out.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” Betty smiles. “Call me if you need anything; I’ll be right outside.”

After Betty leaves, they start to look around. There’s a small kitchen area with plenty of storage space, an even smaller lounge area with a couch and TV. It isn’t exactly as roomy as things were for Riley back at the ranch, where they had their own few acres of land to roam around as they wished, but this apartment is probably good for what they need it for. They don’t need much space – Riley, at least, brought next to no possessions with him, and they’ll be spending most of their time either at work or fighting monsters. A big apartment isn’t a necessity.

“It’s just as well none of us are together; there isn’t much room for a second person in here,” Chase comments with a smirk as they move into the first bedroom.

“What did she mean?” Riley asks stupidly. “We’re all boys; it isn’t like any of us would be dating.”

Chase coughs awkwardly. “Well actually, I’m bisexual.”

“Oh,” Riley says in surprise. “I… didn’t realise that was a thing.”

Chase stares at him. “You didn’t know bisexuality was a thing?” He repeats slowly.

Riley shrugs off the question, embarrassed, because of course he knows bisexuality is a _thing,_ but he’s never met anyone who wasn’t straight and his parents always told him that that sort of thing was simply a fad in some of the bigger cities. But Amber Beach isn’t that big, is it?

“Look,” Chase sighs resignedly, “if this is going to be a problem –”

“It isn’t a problem,” Riley reassures him, not noticing how Tyler is looking between them uncertainly.

Honestly, Riley has never given the whole ‘sexuality’ thing much thought before. His mind has always been too preoccupied with schoolwork and helping out his family to think about relationships – let alone other people’s relationships. They can do what they want with their lives.

“So guys,” Tyler says, trying to diffuse the situation, “this apartment seems nice, right?”

Riley nods. “It’s decent. The rent sounds good too.”

Tyler hums. “I’m curious about the other place Miss Morgan found for us, though. Are we done here? I think we should check it out before it gets late.”

Chase shuffles awkwardly on his feet, seeming uncomfortable. “I should probably get home, actually. You’ll be fine finding your own way there.”

“Are you sure?” Tyler asks. “It would be good to have another opinion on the second apartment.”

Chase shrugs. “I’m sure Shelby will be turning up any minute now, as soon as she’s figured out how to do those kicks Koda was teaching you earlier.” He pauses. “On second thoughts, she won’t be turning up any time soon,” he says with a stupid smirk.

Riley frowns, wondering whether Chase is really expecting them to join in and mock her. It isn’t Shelby’s fault that people keep underestimating her.

But then he thinks of how confidently she announced that she could do whatever Tyler did just as well, before failing completely. And Riley contemplates that perhaps some of it is Shelby’s fault. Still, making fun of her like that seems a little cruel. Riley wonders whether Chase learnt that behaviour from Miss Morgan, who seems to have some sort of inexplicable vendetta against Shelby, or whether it’s simply that Chase is not a nice person.

Then again, it seems odd that the Energem would bond to someone with malicious intent, so – not for the first time – Riley attempts to put his confusion aside and stop questioning Chase’s approach to life.

 

<<->>

 

To Shelby’s credit, she does show up a while later, proudly showing Riley and Tyler the moves she learnt while training earlier today. She tells them that she felt annoyed at first about how she had to stay back and practise, until she remembered that usually she would have to stay behind to serve burgers and learning to fight was definitely _much_ more interesting than that. Tyler laughs, agreeing that the new situation is pretty cool, and then they start having a conversation about the moves they could’ve used in their fight when they first found their Energems, if only they’d been more prepared. Riley stands in the corner of the room checking out the furniture on his own, feeling a little left out. Part of him wishes Chase hadn’t left so he would have someone to talk to.

So far, he thinks Chase is probably the hardest person to work out. He doesn’t have much experience with friendships, in all honesty, and he knows that there must be more to his new friends than what they’ve shown him so far, but on the surface he can understand their personalities. Tyler is ridiculously happy all the time – he wonders if living with Tyler might change that perception of him or simply reinforce it – and Shelby is a confusing mix of determined, stubborn and a little bratty. Miss Morgan is smart and hard-working, and Koda is friendly and helpful, even if he isn’t so talkative and keeps to himself a little more. But Chase definitely keeps to himself the most out of all of them.

Or maybe Riley just isn’t making enough of an effort to get to know him. It could be that, too.

 

<<->>

 

The next day, Tyler and Shelby are sat in the base chatting to each other while Miss Morgan fiddles with her computer, waiting for the others to arrive, when Chase walks in.

Shelby looks up, momentarily distracted from Tyler’s retelling of an expedition his father went on when he was younger. “How did your date go?” she asks him.

Chase tenses, almost imperceptibly. “It was good.”

Tyler looks between them in surprise. “I didn’t know you had a date last night. Is that why you wanted to leave before we checked out the second apartment?”

“Yeah,” Chase agrees, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“You could’ve said,” Tyler continues. “I wouldn’t have insisted if you’d said you were busy.”

“Yeah, well, Riley seemed pretty awkward about it when I brought it up,” Chase shrugs, acting nonchalant even though it’s clear he felt uncomfortable with that reaction.

“You mean the bisexual thing?” Tyler asks. “I wouldn’t take it personally. I think he was just surprised.”

“From what Riley’s told us, he’s had a pretty sheltered upbringing,” Shelby adds. “He probably wasn’t expecting it. I mean, I’ve lived here my whole life and I only know two gay people.”

Chase frowns at her reaction, putting down his skateboard in the corner of the room and reaching to put his headphones over his ears before changing his mind. “It’s not like we’re a different species or something,” he tells her pointedly. “Anyway, I don’t see why my dating life should be any of his business.”

“It isn’t,” Miss Morgan agrees, and the others turn to look at her in surprise, not having realised that she was listening. “It isn’t an important detail to you, and it won’t be to Riley either. The most important thing is that you can all work well together as a team.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Chase sighs. “I don’t know how well we can work together if he has something against me.”

“He doesn’t have anything against you,” Miss Morgan says firmly. “Also you’re late.”

Chase rolls his eyes. “My shift doesn’t start for another hour. I’m technically early.”

“You’re late for your Ranger duties,” Miss Morgan insists.

“Riley isn’t here either,” Chase points out, but he’s quickly proved wrong when Riley appears in the base, falling on the floor at the bottom of the slide.

“You do know that there’s an easier entrance round this way, right?” Shelby asks, gesturing towards the exit.

“I couldn’t remember how to get there,” Riley admits. He’s never had to get around on his own before, and he’s embarrassed to admit that he’s finding it harder to adjust to living on his own than he expected to. “Sorry I’m late, Miss Morgan,” he adds as he joins the others in standing round her computer.

“We were running late anyway; you haven’t missed anything important,” she tells him. “Anyway, I wanted to ask Tyler what you two thought of the apartments I found.”

“How come I’m late and he isn’t, when I arrived before him?” Chase asks, disgruntled, but the others ignore him.

“I preferred the first one,” Riley tells her, setting down his suitcase in the corner of the room. “It’s closer to the museum and the pricing was better.” He glances at Tyler, looking for his opinion.

“I preferred the first one too,” Tyler agrees with an excited smile. “So that’s it? We’re moving in?”

“I guess so,” Riley acknowledges.

“That’s brilliant!” Miss Morgan says enthusiastically. “I’ll let Betty know right away.” She pauses after getting out her phone, looking at Riley and Tyler with a slightly embarrassed expression on her face. “I didn’t want to tell you before you’d made your decision, in case it influenced you. But one of the reasons Betty is happy for you to move in straight away is because it was a personal favour I asked of her. She’s actually my grandmother.”

Riley blinks. “We’re going to be living with your grandmother?”

“I don’t expect you’ll be inviting her up to your apartment with you,” Miss Morgan says, looking mildly offended by the insinuation, “but yes, my grandmother will be your landlord.” She raises an eyebrow. “Does that make you uncomfortable?”

“Not at all,” Tyler says – and of course he’s fine with it. Of _course_ he doesn’t think there’s anything weird about this situation; how their landlord and their boss and the brains behind their team as Power Rangers will all be in the hands of the same family. That’s perfectly normal to someone like Tyler.

And maybe Riley is overly cynical, or maybe he just has more common sense than the others. It’s difficult to tell, sometimes.

“Good, because I’ve already texted her to say you want the apartment,” Miss Morgan says with a satisfied smile.

Riley looks at her in surprise. “Your grandmother knows how to text?” The others give him a strange look and he elaborates, “My grandparents back home hardly knew how to handle a phone.”

“See? I told you,” Shelby says righteously. “Things work differently in the countryside. They’re very behind there.”

Riley frowns at her. “What are you talking about?”

“So Riley and I are renting an apartment,” Tyler cuts in, “Shelby still lives with her parents and Chase has his own place. What about Koda? Where’s he living?”

As if on cue, Koda wanders into the base, shirtless and hair messy like he’s just woken up. Riley involuntarily finds himself staring because wow, if this is what being a Ranger does to someone’s physique, he’s going to have a six pack by the time this is over.

Not that Riley is vain or anything. But a six pack would be pretty cool.

“Morning, Koda,” Miss Morgan says with a rueful smile. “You could have got dressed before walking out here.”

“I hear voices,” Koda responds, and for a split second Riley wonders if he’s confessing to having psychological problems, until it occurs to him that Koda must be explaining what woke him up.

“Were you sleeping in there?” Shelby asks confusedly, gesturing to a corner of the cave that’s blocked from view. “I figured Miss Morgan was keeping top secret equipment in there or something.”

“This whole cave is full of top secret equipment, Shelby,” Miss Morgan says tiredly.

Shelby falters. “You know what I mean. I thought you were trying to hide something from us.”

“Why would I be trying to hide something from you?” Miss Morgan asks, her eyebrows raised, and Shelby starts to fiddle with the strings of her hoodie, acting like she’s being told off.

“I mean, you seem to have something against me, so –”

“This is… home,” Koda says with a bright smile, cutting Shelby off from saying anything else.

“If you’d told us, we could’ve tried to get an apartment for three people,” Tyler says with a frown, looking a little concerned. (This is the saddest Riley has ever seen him.)

“What about Chase?” Riley points out. “Surely he has room for an extra person.”

Chase glances at him. “You’ve never been to my apartment, how would you know? Anyway, Koda wouldn’t like it there. He prefers to sleep on the floor.”

Shelby laughs. “Like _anyone_ would prefer to sleep on the floor.”

“Floor – comfy,” Koda says.

Shelby’s expression twists into one of confusion. “Except Koda, apparently.”

“Sleeping on the floor is what Koda is used to,” Miss Morgan explains. “He isn’t from this time.”

Riley almost laughs at the implication. “Are you trying to tell me he’s a time-traveller?”

“Once you’ve bonded to an Energem, you stop ageing,” Miss Morgan tells him. “Koda found his Energem long before the rest of you; approximately 100,000 years ago.”

Tyler frowns harder. “So… he’s a caveman?”

Miss Morgan nods. “He told me he was from the Pleistocene era,” she says with a proud smile. (Riley definitely gets the feeling she likes knowing things that other people don’t, and broadcasting that fact to other people. Maybe she’s a bit of a showoff, but Riley still finds her knowledge impressive.)

But then something occurs to Riley, and the next second he’s asking, “How would he know that was what it was called? Surely they wouldn’t have named it while it was still happening.”

They all look at him in surprise.

“That’s a good point,” Miss Morgan acknowledges, frowning.

“Miss Morgan gave… cave,” Koda says, interrupting their thoughts. “For sleep.”

Miss Morgan smiles at him, her expression softening. “I thought it would remind you of home.”

Koda nods. “Home,” he says slowly. “I… remember… not much.”

“Being frozen inside a glacier for hundreds of years would probably do a good job of messing with your memories,” Chase says with a terse smile, patting Koda on the back consolingly.

“That sounds rough, man,” Tyler comments, and Riley bites back a laugh because yeah, _rough_ is certainly a word for it. He probably would have gone with _torturous_ or something similar, but it isn’t like he would know anyway.

“I remember brother. Taku,” Koda then says, and they spend a bit of time talking about Koda’s old family before the alarm blares once more and Riley has to mentally prepare himself for the second monster attack of the week. He has a feeling that he has a long summer ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying it! Feel free to comment and let me know :)


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rangers meet Sledge for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! This chapter starts directly from when the previous one ended, I hope you like it :)

When the Rangers reach the clearing in the forest where Miss Morgan detected alien biosigns, Riley is surprised to find not one, not two, but three large monsters walking towards them. They’re surrounded by other less menacing monsters which all look the same, but Riley can’t take his eyes off the bright pink piece of machinery in the centre. _Wow, this thing has an even weirder design than Fury,_ he finds himself thinking in awe.

“What are you, a walking lollipop?” Tyler says.

He probably means it as an insult, but honestly Riley thinks it could be a genuine question. He wouldn’t have been sure how to phrase it himself, but that’s exactly what she looks like. (Well, if lollipops are vaguely terrifying.)

“Nice to meet you too,” the walking lollipop says sarcastically. Her ( _do monsters have genders?_ Riley asks himself passively) voice is high-pitched and whiny – it would probably be annoying if it didn’t add to the creepiness level of the whole affair. The monster continues, “Allow me to introduce you to the most magnificent intergalactic bounty hunter in the universe!”

For a second Riley thinks it’s talking about itself, but then another monster flies in from the sky, landing with a thud in the ground and Riley stares at it in surprise.

Call him petty for thinking it, but green is _his_ colour. He’s a little affronted that this supposedly powerful bounty hunter has taken the colour and used it for evil, alongside Chase’s colour of black. Riley wonders whether Chase is annoyed by it too, and then wonders whether Chase has met this monster before. He has been a Ranger for much longer, after all.

“My future husband, Sledge!” the walking lollipop finishes, and Riley winces at how disgusting the whole thing is. How could anyone love _something_ like that? (To be fair, it might be cute if they weren’t trying to destroy him and his friends.)

“This is a joke, right? _They’re_ the Rangers who destroyed my monster?” Sledge cackles, and then all the monsters are laughing at Riley and his friends but that doesn’t make any sense. If they seem like less capable opponents than Sledge was expecting, how come the Rangers were able to defeat his monsters at all? If anyone’s laughing, it should probably be Riley and the others.

“ _Power_ Rangers,” Shelby corrects him, her jaw set like she’s ready to fight, and Tyler nods at her approvingly. Riley personally isn’t sure why she’s getting hung up on a technicality, but he supposes it _does_ make sense not to let him step all over them. They’ve already proved themselves to be decent at what they do; destroying Iceage for good in the space of only an hour or so.

The monsters, however, all burst out laughing at Shelby’s statement. After a minute, Sledge turns back around. “As I was saying – you’re the troublemakers that stole my Energems!” he complains.

Tyler opens his mouth to respond, but before he has a chance Keeper materialises in front of them, seemingly out of thin air.

“Keeper…?” Sledge says slowly, faltering slightly. (It’s hardly noticeable, but Riley is keeping an eye out for any signs of weakness. He takes this as an indication that maybe Sledge fears Keeper: if so, the Rangers can definitely use that to their advantage.)

“The Energems belong to no one,” Keeper tells him calmly. “Especially not to you.”

“My dear old friend,” Sledge begins – and Riley has to admit he’s impressed at the monster’s ability to express sarcasm. “You thought that blowing up my ship could stop me? I waited in deep space for millions of years for a comet to pass. I caught it and locked it in my ship’s electro-net, only for you to come along with a bomb and destroy everything I’d worked so hard for!”

“That’s some backstory,” Shelby comments.

Sledge ignores Shelby, his fake smile seamlessly transforming into a grimace as he glares at Keeper. “Well, if you thought that something like that would do _anything_ except make me work harder for the power and strength I _rightfully deserve_ , you were severely mistaken. I have returned – and I am ready to steal those Energems right out of the incapable hands of those undeserving Rangers.”

“If you try to take the Energems, _you_ will be the one who is destroyed,” Keeper responds factually, which only appears to infuriate Sledge even more. “Good luck, Sledge,” Keeper adds, matching Sledge’s previous level of sarcasm, before disappearing.

“Uh… Keeper?” Riley says anxiously, looking around his surroundings for the strange alien. Did he really just make the monsters they’re fighting _more_ riled up before vanishing again? _Great._ They hardly defeated Iceage as it was, and that was only one monster against the five Rangers. What are they going to do now they’re outnumbered?

“It’s okay. We can do this. We got this,” Shelby mutters under her breath, and Riley honestly isn’t sure whether she’s trying to convince the other Rangers or herself.

“We’ve defeated one of your monsters before; we can do it again,” Tyler calls out brazenly – ever the optimist. But Riley thinks they have good reason to be nervous.

His theory is confirmed when they get throttled by the monsters, de-morphing one by one as they’re overpowered. Staggering forward to try and fight back one more time, with his last fragment of energy, Riley doesn’t think he’s ever felt more grateful than in the moment Sledge calls a truce.

“Last warning, Rangers!” he shouts. “Hand over the Energems in an hour or I’ll blast you into pieces!”

Once the monsters have left, Riley turns to his team. “We need a plan,” he says confidently, before inwardly scolding himself. Of _course_ they need a plan. Stating the necessity for a plan doesn’t exactly help to plan what they should do next –

“I have a hunch,” Tyler announces, cutting of Riley’s train of thought.

Koda looks at him in confusion. “Hunch?” he asks.

“It means he has a feeling, based on intuition rather than evidence,” Riley explains. “The _opposite_ of a plan,” he adds under his breath. Chase appears to have heard him, smiling grimly in his direction as Tyler begins to explain his theory.

“Fury was hiding in the bushes – I saw him. Sledge looked in his direction while they were discussing the plans… I have a bad feeling about this.”

Chase looks at him sternly. “Tyler, I know you’re new to this, but we’re a _team._ You can’t just follow up on every gut instinct you have. Right now, we need to figure out how to stop the Energems getting stolen from us, and we have under an hour. Can you focus?”

Riley nods in agreement, silently contemplating that this is the first time he and Chase have shared the same stance on their duties. “We have to come up with a plan, _together_ ,” Riley adds helpfully.

“I’m serious, guys,” Tyler argues, and in his defence, he does look more serious than Riley has ever seen him before; only a hint of a smile playing at his lips. “I think we should figure out where Fury went. There’s something not right about this.”

“The last thing we should be doing is splitting up,” Chase insists.

“If he wants to go, let him go,” Shelby pipes up. “There are still four other Rangers trying to figure this out. We’re _all_ important, Chase.”

Honestly, Riley is starting to feel like Shelby is _too_ self-important, but right now he can’t help but agree with her logic. Tyler may be the leader, but that doesn’t mean he’s the only Ranger that matters.

“Tyler – leader,” Koda pipes up. “We go with him.”

“No, Koda,” Chase sighs. “Let him do what he wants. We’ll figure it out.” The words aren’t exactly convincing as he watches Tyler run off, a disappointed expression on his face. (Riley wonders who made Tyler so important; someone worth staring after.)

He then remembers Chase’s sexuality, and contemplates that there could be something more going on between him and Tyler. It’s only been a few days, but going through a few near-death experiences with someone could probably accelerate the process of how close two people can become in a given amount of time.

Riley isn’t sure why, but that thought makes him feel uneasy. He tells himself it’s because it would be unprofessional for two Rangers to date each other while trying to save the world at the same time, but it feels like he’s missing something important. He decides to come back to it later; there are more important things to be focusing on right now, after all.

 

<<->>

 

“What are we doing back at the base?” Shelby complains as they walk inside.

“Did you have any better ideas?” Chase snarks.

“I don’t see how we’re going to find any answers here,” Riley admits.

“Kendall is here,” Chase says confidently. “Kendall always knows what to do.” He looks around, his expression transforming from determination to worry when he sees no sign of her. “Kendall?” he calls out.

Miss Morgan appears in the doorway. “Chase. Why are you shouting?”

“We have an issue,” he sighs.

“I’m aware,” Miss Morgan responds with a smug smile. “But I have something that I think might help.” She guides them to her work station, where she’s been developing some new technology for the Dino Chargers. “I’ve upgraded your Dino Chargers so that you’ll now be able to access a high-strength armour mode, called Dino Steel.”

“But will Dino Steel be strong enough to defeat Sledge?” Shelby asks sceptically.

Miss Morgan’s smile dims a little. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Shelby stares at her indignantly, and Riley can tell that she wants to ask her _what kind of a response is that?,_ because he’s thinking the same thing. He isn’t even a week into his summer vacation and he already has the threat of being obliterated? He didn’t spend his entire life in education just to die like this.

“Maybe, if Tyler hadn’t left us,” Chase says quietly, and Riley’s frustration peaks.

“Why are you so focused on Tyler?” Riley snaps. “We’re only down by one Ranger. He hardly knows how to lead a team; we’ve only been here a _week._ If anyone knows how to boost the team’s morale, it’s you. So why do you insist on making us all feel like without Tyler, we’re incapable of doing anything to help?”

Chase stares at him in shock. Before he has time to figure out a response, an alarm blares and Miss Morgan rushes to her computer. “An alien has been detected at…” She stares at her screen in confusion. “This location is only a minute or two away from the base; how did…?” She then gulps as more information appears on the surroundings, and things start to make sense. “Tyler’s there too.”

The four Rangers look at each other in wonder; Shelby being the one to shock them out of their stupor by shouting “Come on, let’s go!” and hurrying towards the exit.

 

<<->>

 

“Do you think he’s okay?” Riley pants as they run.

“Why should you care? You said it yourself; he isn’t important,” Chase says pointedly.

Riley huffs, feeling misunderstood and rightfully angry. “That isn’t what I said.”

“Guys, please save this rivalry for another time,” Shelby cuts in. “Tyler could be in trouble.”

And, sure enough, by the time they arrive at the scene of the crime, Tyler is lying on the floor de-morphed, most likely about to be destroyed by the two monsters stalking towards him. They all act quick, using their Dino Blasters to shoot at the monsters, just enough to distract them from obliterating Tyler.

“Thanks for coming to help,” Tyler pants as Riley helps him up, leading him a few metres away so that they’re out of immediate danger.

Riley smiles in response, but he feels guilty. He's the one who cared the least about Tyler’s whereabouts – he doesn’t deserve Tyler’s gratitude.

“Tyler!” Chase says, rushing over, and Riley’s expression sours. (He only wants to be acknowledged as an important part of the team just like Tyler – is that so much to ask?) “You followed them alone?” Chase then scolds him as he takes in the scene, his voice low. “You could’ve been destroyed.”

“I hit them with my truck. Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Tyler pants, not seeming to pick up on Chase’s rude tone.

Riley glances at the truck a few metres away. “If you ran into them in the truck, how come it doesn’t have any scratches?”

“They followed you all back to the base,” Tyler explains breathlessly, neglecting to answer Riley’s pressing question. “They were trying to pass on the location to Sledge. That was the _real_ plan. Giving us an hour to decide whether or not to hand over the Energems actually gave them an hour to find out where we were stationed and report back.”

“That’s pretty smart,” Riley approves, forgetting for a second that the monsters are not on his side and that he really shouldn’t be admiring their war tactics. “For a monster…” he adds dumbly as Chase and Shelby glare at him.

“Do well, Tyler,” Koda contributes, easing the tension. For a second Riley thinks it’s an odd piece of advice to give, especially because it isn’t like any of them would try to do _badly,_ but then he remembers that Koda’s English skills really could do with improving.

“Thanks Koda,” Tyler says, naturally reading Koda’s intention more easily than Riley. (How is he better than Riley at everything? This isn’t fair.)

“You did the right thing following your hunch,” Shelby adds, her expression softer now, and Tyler smiles wider.

Then they get distracted by the two monsters trying to attack again ( _how nice for them to wait for us to finish our conversation,_ Riley contemplates passively) and they all come to their senses. They morph together, and it takes a while, but the Rangers eventually manage to defeat the monsters them – one blowing up in a cloud of smoke while the other disappears out of sight, apparently deciding that today’s fight is not a fight it wants to participate in.

Tyler is fighting the bigger version of the monster in his T-Rex Zord when the information comes through on Riley’s communicator that Miss Morgan has found a way to combine the Zords. He gets excited for a second, wondering what will happen, then feels his mood drop a little when he realises it’s only Tyler’s, Koda’s and Shelby’s Zords that are linking together.

Chase rushes over to Riley, and they stand to the side as the watch the fight play out.

“That looks amazing,” Chase says in awe.

“Doesn’t it annoy you?” Riley asks before he can consider how his words will come across. At Chase’s questioning glance, he continues, “You’ve been a Ranger much longer than Tyler or Shelby.”

“Tyler’s the leader,” Chase reminds him, and Riley bites back a cutting remark about why Tyler has to be so important before Chase continues, “but I would’ve been happy to replace Shelby.”

Riley laughs in surprise, then looks at Chase in shock because that must be the first time he’s actually appreciated anything Chase has said. And although it was still technically an insult – directed at Shelby who Riley doesn’t think deserves so much criticism – he takes it as a good sign that they can actually agree on something.

But once the fight is over and they’re all back on the ground, de-morphed and victorious, Riley feels his mood slipping again. Chase and Koda are congratulating each other while Tyler and Shelby gush about the sensation of being in a Megazord for the first time; and all in all, Riley feels a little left out.

He chalks it down to homesickness and being out of his comfort zone, and promises himself that he’ll give his mother a call soon.

 

<<->>

 

“Do you need any more help?” Shelby asks, and Riley and Tyler both shake their heads.

“I think we’re good to go now,” Tyler grins. “Did you want to stay for dinner?”

Riley almost winces, because they’ve been unpacking all day and he really wants some time to himself, but thankfully Shelby shakes her head. “I need to be up early tomorrow – for _work_ ,” she says scathingly. “Like we didn’t just defeat a monster a few days ago.”

“We all have to work,” Tyler laughs. “I’ll see you in the café; you’re waitressing again, right? I’m on burger duty. When does your shift finish?”

“Not until 2pm,” she sighs.

“Me too!” Tyler says enthusiastically. “What do you say we head out after we’re done and get a late lunch somewhere?”

Shelby’s demeanour immediately brightens – which Riley finds confusing, because he didn’t think Shelby liked food _that_ much. Surely she was planning on eating anyway. The only person he can think of that would naturally get excited about the prospect of lunch is Koda, and that’s because he doesn’t particularly know anything about, well, anything. He still seems to see food as a commodity, which Riley supposes makes sense given his background as a caveman. (He’s still trying to process that particular aspect of Koda’s history.)

“That sounds great,” Shelby smiles.

“Awesome! I’ll meet you in the base?” Tyler grins back.

“Mm hmm,” Shelby agrees, giving him an awkward wave and then a quick wave to Riley as well before she leaves the room.

“Did you want food, Riley?” Tyler asks once Shelby’s gone. “I’m going to make pasta.”

“It’s okay, I think I’ll eat later,” Riley says, thinking about how unsettled his stomach feels right now. “I’m actually going to head back to my room.”

“Okay,” Tyler says easily. “I’ll see you later.”

Once Riley is sat on his bed, he gets out his phone. “Riley?” his mother answers after a few rings.

“Hi,” Riley says, a small smile appearing on his face. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” she replies – a vague answer, but Riley doesn’t push her. “It feels strange not having you here,” she admits.

“It feels strange not being with you,” Riley agrees. “How’s the ranch? How’s Rubik?”

“He misses you,” she says softly, before quickly changing the subject. Riley tries not to focus on the fact that she tends to do this whenever she feels uncomfortable; whenever they touch upon a sensitive topic. “Are you enjoying the dinosaur museum?”

“I am,” Riley says honestly. “It’s different, but it’s nice here. I’ve met some good people. I miss you, though. And Rubik,” he adds, as if that wasn’t already obvious.

His mother chuckles. “Your brother’s here, too. Did you want to speak with him?”

Once Riley agrees, the phone is passed over and then Matt is saying in his ear, “What are you really doing?”

Riley pauses, trying to make sense of the words. “Right now?” he asks, trying to clarify.

“No; what are you doing in Amber Beach?” Matt says. “You don’t usually change your plans so last minute. You don’t usually _make_ plans last minute… I know something’s going on with you.”

Riley breathes in slowly, trying not to panic. He and his brother may not always see eye to eye, but Matt probably still knows him better than anyone. He can tell that this is out of character for him.

Ironically enough, it’s also out of character for Riley to lie about something like this, but what’s he supposed to do? He’s been told that he can’t tell anybody about being a Power Ranger. Besides, he isn’t convinced his brother would believe him even if he did tell the truth. So instead he says, “I was offered a summer job at the Dino Museum. I thought the work was interesting and I wanted to learn more, so I took it.” It’s still the truth, even if only a part of it.

Matt hums. “Did you meet someone?”

Riley almost laughs – _this_ is where his brother stops being able to understand his intentions. Matt should know that Riley’s never really been interested in relationships. “I’ve met a lot of people,” Riley answers vaguely.

“That isn’t what I mean,” Matt says. “Have you met a _girl?_ ”

For some reason, Riley’s stomach drops at those words. Perhaps it’s out of sudden sympathy for Chase’s situation; how he isn’t always able to agree that the person he’s dating is a girl. It must make these conversations harder. Riley can sympathise with that, he supposes, because these conversations have never been easy for him in the first place. He has no idea how Chase has managed to cope.

It’s odd, really, how he can admire Chase in some regards and simultaneously hate his attitude. He’s someone Riley is still trying to work out.

“Riley?” Matt persists.

“No,” Riley answers, aware that he’s remained silent for too long. “I’ve met girls, but nobody like _that._ I’m here to work. Stop prying,” he adds, recognising that it comes off as defensive even if that isn’t his intention.

Matt hums again. “I’m glad you called, Riley,” he then says. “I hope you’re having a good time, whatever you’re really doing.”

Matt hangs up the phone before Riley has a chance to argue back.

 

<<->>

 

The next day, Riley is working in the café, trying to wait tables without getting distracted by any of the other Rangers. After his and Chase’s disagreement the other day, he doesn’t know how friendly he should be acting around them all. They may have been thrust into this situation together, and they may be forced to work as a team, but ultimately Riley still doesn’t know the others that well. He wants to keep his wits about him.

Riley still hasn’t mentioned that he’s living with someone he’s only known for a week, but in his defence his mother didn’t ask. He wonders if she’s trying to give him space and responsibility, to be a true adult and figure things out for himself, or whether she didn’t ask because she was afraid she wouldn’t like the answer.

Sometimes Riley thinks too much.

It’s when he’s thinking too much that he turns around from the drinks station, three cups of fizzy drinks on the tray in his hands, and promptly walks into Chase. Something _stings,_ and Riley is about to yank his arm away when Tyler appears next to him, seemingly from out of nowhere, steadying him.

“You should be more careful,” Tyler tells them with a bright smile once he’s checked that no food or drink has been spilt.

Riley ignores Tyler’s advice in order to direct Chase with an indignant glare. “You gave me an electric shock,” he accuses.

Chase looks at him in shock. “I did?”

“Did you not feel it?” Riley asks in surprise.

“What are you doing standing here chatting?” Shelby says, barging into the conversation. “I’m not doing _all_ the work.”

“You’re not doing _any_ of the work,” Chase mutters under his breath, and Riley takes that as his cue to walk away. He isn’t getting involved in another petty argument with Chase; especially about something as trivial as how much work they’re all doing around the café. (Admittedly, Shelby isn’t the most proficient at her job, but Riley still thinks she should be given more credit. At least she’s here, and she’s trying.)

Riley passes the customers their drinks, apologising when he realises that some liquid has spilled over the side of one of the cups and quickly offering to get them a new one. As he heads back to the drinks station, passing by Chase again, Riley finds himself sighing in frustration. He doesn’t like things that don’t make sense, and so far his thoughts on Chase make the least sense of all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anyone help Riley with figuring out his thoughts on Chase? :P


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley is finding Chase extremely irritating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been struggling a bit with inspiration for this story, so sorry for the delay with the update. I decided it would be interesting to put some more insight into Chase’s character for this chapter so we see a couple of scenes from his perspective as well as the usual scenes from Riley’s! I hope you like it :)

The next few weeks of fighting are mentally taxing for Riley, to say the least. He supposes that not particularly liking some of his teammates probably has a negative effect on the team, but he can’t help not understanding their attitudes. _Their attitudes,_ Riley thinks to himself snidely. _Stop lying to yourself. You know that your brain is hung up on Chase._

It’s because he can’t work him out. For a person that seems to have such simple intentions, Chase only gets more confusing the more Riley learns about him.

The first problem starts with learning that Chase earned his Energem after rescuing a baby – which actually turned out to be a cat – and Riley feels like he has no fundamental understanding of Chase’s personality anymore. “But you don’t care about anything,” he protests once they’re back at the base, then winces at his own words.

“That’s a bit harsh, Riley,” Shelby points out, and Riley sighs in frustration.

“I’m just saying. This story doesn’t make sense. Why would you save a cat?”

Chase simply ignores him in favour of checking his phone, and that annoys Riley more than it should. Especially when he knows he’s the one being rude, not Chase. But something about it makes him feel infuriated.

“He care some things,” Koda says fairly.

“He clearly cares about his phone more than his fellow Rangers,” Riley grumbles.

“Also he thought the cat was a baby,” Shelby points out, luckily not hearing Riley’s statement.

“Not that animals aren’t worthy of saying,” Tyler adds, very characteristically. “But maybe we should stop discussing Chase and start discussing our new fighting technique. We have a lot to work on, if we want to actually defeat Sledge and his monsters.”

“Tyler’s right,” Miss Morgan states from where she’s standing behind her computer screens. “The monsters are only getting stronger, and we need to do the same. You should continue with your training.”

“But I still don’t understand how Chase actually got hold of the Energem,” Shelby says, confused.

Unusually for him, Chase doesn’t make a comment about how she doesn’t understand a lot of things. Instead he simply explains, “Moana gave it to me.” But then he raises an eyebrow. “Was that not obvious?”

“Shelby has a point,” Riley says, defending her for no reason other than the fact that Chase is being rude and judgemental towards her. “Moana gave it to him, but how did _she_ have it in the first place?”

Chase hums thoughtfully. “I’ve never actually asked her about that.”

“Why does that not surprise me,” Riley mutters.

Chase glances at him. “Do you have something to say to me?” But then his phone chimes, and Chase turns his attention back to his device.

“No, nothing to say,” Riley says, lying through his teeth. “It’s clear that your phone is more important than saving the world,” he adds casually.

“Well, I’d better go,” Chase bites out. “Got a date to get to.”

“Chase –” Miss Morgan tries, but Chase is already walking out.

Riley doesn’t know why, but something about Chase leaving like that makes him more frustrated with the situation.

 

<<->>

 

Chase tries to concentrate on his date, he really does. Usually it isn’t an issue, because everything comes naturally to him: he flirts a little, makes his date feel comfortable and shows them the best items on the menu. Usually he doesn’t take them out to such a fancy place, of course, so usually he’s more familiar with the menu, and his surroundings in general. He can’t even remember the name of this place.

And – _oh no._ This is bad. Forget about the name of the restaurant: Chase can’t remember this girl’s name. Why can’t he remember her name?

He may not be the most considerate date, of course, but he would usually remember his date’s name. It _must_ be in his brain somewhere. It’s two syllables – it begins with an S, and –

“…so then my friend is like, ‘Hey Sally, you _have_ to watch this film,’ so I tell her that I do _not_ like action movies and I don’t have the time to spend on something like that when I could be at a beauty salon, or…”

 _Sally! That’s it,_ Chase thinks to himself. He feels proud. Although the words coming out of her mouth do seem extremely superficial. But maybe he shouldn’t be judging when he hasn’t even been listening to most of the story. She probably has a reason for not liking action movies, or for wanting to be at a beauty salon all the time. Surely.

“…it’s honestly ridiculous, but I don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t cut the fee for me because…”

Chase’s attention is distracted again by a loud conversation at a table nearby. Chase feels himself gazing at them and watching as the boy grins and exclaims that he would love to be her boyfriend officially, that he was too worried to ask her in case she thought they were too close as friends to be anything more.

“…of course, my first boyfriend wasn’t anything like that, it was only the third who…”

Chase can’t concentrate, his brain repeatedly thinking back to the situation that’s been on his mind all week. His parents called the other day, and it was nice to speak with them, but Chloe wasn’t around to talk. He only got to hear his parents’ perspective on her. It wouldn’t be an issue, per se, but that’s happened the last 3 times he called home, too. He keeps calling at the wrong times, apparently. He’s been so careful not to ring while she’s in school – but now she has more friends, and she’s always too busy to talk to her older brother.

There’s too much happening in his mind right now. He should be paying attention to the girl he’s with, not thinking about his family.

As if on cue, his date speaks up again: “Are you even listening?”

Chase looks up in alarm. “Uh – sorry?”

The girl – _Sally,_ Chase reminds himself, mentally chastising himself for forgetting again – stares at him, clearly unimpressed. “I’m taking that as a no. Is there a reason your mind is elsewhere?”

Chase winces at her bluntness. He has the sudden unwelcome thought that such an attitude reminds him of Kendall, and suddenly he realises he isn’t attracted to this girl _at all._

Still, it seems polite to explain himself. “I’m just thinking about Chloe."

“You’re thinking about another girl while you’re sat here with me?” Sally asks, clearly put out. And really, Chase could explain that Chloe is his sister, but he doesn’t see the point. He isn’t interesting in continuing the date any more than she is.

“Maybe we should call it a night,” he says instead.

Sally harrumphs. “Maybe we should.” She stands up and walks away.

“Are you not even going to –” Chase calls after her pettily, before slumping in his seat. She’s already gone. And now he supposes he’s paying for their food all by himself. Like his salary from the museum can even cover _him_ going out to a restaurant, let alone taking a girl with him. But what can he say, she seemed like she had high standards. (High standards Chase clearly didn’t live up to. But he can’t really blame her there, not when he was the one to cut off conversation and let her believe that his mind was stuck on another girl.)

He sighs to himself defeatedly. So much for this date taking his mind off things.

 

<<->>

 

“Hey, how was your date?” Shelby asks cheerfully when Chase walks into the base the following day. She and Tyler are sat together sharing a burger Tyler probably made earlier, and Chase tries not to be grossed out by it. He can’t even blame them for rubbing their functional relationship in his face when he’s the one who just walked in with no warning.

“Not even worth talking about,” he responds grumpily.

“That bad?” Tyler asks sympathetically. _Not that he would understand_ , Chase thinks to himself bitterly. _He and Shelby clearly aren’t trying to hide their feelings for each other. Why is it so easy for some people?_

Chase shakes his head tiredly. “I’ve never had such a bad experience before. Maybe…” He takes a deep breath. “Maybe I’m losing my touch.”

Shelby visibly tries to resist an eye roll. “What touch?”

Chase scoffs. “No need for that, Shelbs. No one’s resistant to my charms, including you.” He gives her a sleazy wink.

“You’re extremely cocky for someone who’s date last night went terribly,” Shelby retorts.

Chase chuckles. “Whatever. I guess she was just… somewhere else. Wasn’t as interested in me as she thought she’d be.”

Shelby frowns at him, probably overthinking what that means, and really, Chase doesn’t want to know what she’s reading into it.

“Right...” she says slowly, turning to Tyler like he’ll have an answer for Chase’s strange behaviour.

“I’d better get to my shift or I’ll be late,” Chase says, and he knows he’s acting out of character – he hasn’t even started to eat his takeaway lunch yet – but he can’t be bothered to come up with a better excuse to leave. “I’ll see you later for bowling? We’re still going as a group, right?”

“You got it,” Tyler grins, cutting Shelby off before she has a chance to respond, which Chase is grateful for. Shelby can be an idiot when it suits her, but for some reason the one time he wants her to be oblivious to what’s going on seems to be the time when she’s more clued up. Chase doesn’t want any questions right now.

He walks out of the base, aware that Shelby and Tyler still have their eyes on him. But that isn’t important, anyway. It’s time to get some cleaning done and try to ignore the strange feeling that’s been following him around for the past few days now.

 

<<->>

 

The next time Riley gets angry with Chase is when they all get called together to try and find Sledge’s latest monster that’s roaming the city, and Chase doesn’t turn up. He still isn’t there by the time they’ve found the monster and been defeated: luckily the monster was called back to Sledge’s ship before the Rangers could be finished off, or have their Energems stolen. The Rangers trudge back to the base to find Miss Morgan stood waiting for them, looking disappointed.

“We tried,” Shelby complains before Miss Morgan can say anything.

“I’m not annoyed with you,” Miss Morgan responds. _Wow, that’s a first_ , Riley thinks to himself. Most of the time, he can bank on the fact that Miss Morgan will be annoyed at Shelby for something or other, even when she hasn’t done anything wrong.

“Have you seen Chase?” Tyler asks Miss Morgan. And there it is: Tyler’s obsession with Chase. _Does he not think about anything else?_ Riley wonders to himself. _At least the rest of us turned up._ Although, even he has to admit that they really could’ve done with Chase’s help today.

“I don’t know where he is,” Miss Morgan admits. “This really isn’t like him. I’m starting to wonder if Sledge has managed to kidnap him and hold him captive, or –”

Chase skateboards into the base before Miss Morgan can finish her sentence.

“You here!” Koda says happily, but the rest aren’t so pleased to see him.

“Where were you?” Tyler asks, and Riley notes with surprise that Tyler is actually angry. This is the first time he’s seen Tyler look aggressive… which is strange, considering the fact that they fight evil practically every week these days.

“Where was _I_?” Chase asks, naturally outraged. “Where were _you_? We were supposed to go bowling! I was waiting at the alley for _ages_.”

They all stare at him.

“Typical,” Shelby mumbles under her breath.

“Chase,” Miss Morgan says eventually, realising that none of the Rangers are going to take the initiative to explain things to him. “Sledge has sent down another monster. He could’ve been anywhere all over the city.”

Chase blinks. “I had no idea.”

Miss Morgan visibly resists the temptation to roll her eyes. (She and Shelby are clearly more similar than she would like to admit.) “Did you even check your communicator?”

“It must have stopped working,” Chase says slowly. “I didn’t hear a thing. Maybe it’s out of battery?” He looks around at the Rangers, who are staring at him in disbelief.

“The communicators aren’t battery-powered,” Miss Morgan says slowly. “Surely you know that.”

Chase’s eyes are still on the other Rangers. “Did you find the monster?” he asks urgently.

“Yes,” Koda says. “We hurt.”

Shelby nods in agreement, also irritated at Chase’s lack of involvement in the fight. “What Koda’s trying to say is that we got completely thrashed.”

“But some people clearly care less about what will happen if evil takes over the world,” Riley shrugs, surprising himself with how passive aggressive it sounds, before he makes his exit. He doesn’t know exactly what it is, but something about the fact that he, Tyler, Koda and Shelby were all fighting twice as hard as usual and still couldn’t defeat the universe’s latest threat has Riley’s blood boiling. Partly because he knows that with Chase’s help, the fight would probably be over by now.

He hates that their team needs Chase. He doesn’t like having to see him almost every day – even when they’re not working or fighting evil together, he’ll sometimes come round to the apartment to see Tyler. He’s always _there._ Except for when they actually need him.

 

<<->>

 

It’s only after all the other Rangers have left that Kendall confronts Chase. “What really happened today? You know those communicators aren’t battery-powered, and even if there was a glitch I would have been informed.”

Chase sighs. “I’m sorry,” he says defeatedly.

Kendall purses her lips. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

Chase shrugs. “I went out, like I said, and I left it at home by accident. It was a mistake and it won’t happen again.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Kendall says bluntly. “We both know you aren’t as careless as you make the others believe.” ~~~~

Chase keeps his eyes trained on the ground. “Or maybe I’m more flawed than I appear.”

Kendall stares at him. “What’s wrong with you? I’m used to having to cut _down_ your ego to help you function. Seriously, Chase, tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing,” Chase says, already turning away. “I’ll sort myself out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think is up with Chase?


End file.
